Raising the Medicare eligibility age would save $148B | MassDevice.com On Call

January 11, 2012 by MassDevice staff

MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Raising the Medicare eligibility age to 67 would save the federal government roughly $147 billion but shift costs to seniors, according to a report from the Congressional Budget Office.

The age increase has been on the table in most budget cut talks since the Republicans took over House majority in the last election, and President Obama supported the idea during budget talks in the fall.

Raising the eligibility age would be "less onerous" if Obama's health care law stays in place, according to TheHill.com.

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The president's health care reform law would allow seniors, who would become uninsured or need to pay higher premiums, to buy private coverage through the new insurance exchanges.

Without Obamacare, "many more people" would end up uninsured if the eligibility age was raised, according to the CBO report.

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